Maternal and Infant Environmental Health Riskscape (MIEHR) Research Center

尽管人们知道怀孕会影响母亲和孩子整个生命周期的健康轨迹， 存在着显著的种族差异。非裔美国人(AA)妇女早产和 在美国，死于妊娠高血压疾病(HDP)的人比其他任何一组人都要多，以破译是什么原因 这些差距，我们正在提出一种新的环境健康差距，母婴 环境健康风险(MIEHR)研究中心。MIEHR研究中心的目标是 阐明环境风险景观的生物、物理、社会和建成环境的贡献 对孕妇及其婴儿的环境健康差异的关注。总部位于休斯顿的MIEHR利用 贝勒医学院和德克萨斯南方大学的合作伙伴关系和强有力的机构支持， 休斯顿大学是美国历史上第四大黑人大学。值得注意的是，休斯顿大学为研究提供了一个缩影 环境暴露和健康差距的交集，具有多样性的多民族和多种族 人口和记录在案的环境不公正现象。这座城市拥有世界上最大的石化综合设施 在美国，许多危险废物场所，没有分区，面临着自然灾害和工业灾难的风险。MIEHR 研究中心有两个协同研究项目，建立在一个独特的持续围产期数据库和 生物制品储存库：BCM Peribank。项目1：环境风险、灾害和 产科结果将利用流行病学方法来确定不同种族之间的联系 在单个化学品(即多环芳烃和金属)的混合物和基于地点的混合物之间 风险环境中的压力源和早产。该项目还将研究飓风哈维对 在这些暴露中存在种族差异。项目2：了解母婴健康差异的分类器 将使用“组学”方法来开发和验证早产和HDP的视差感知分类器 AA和非西班牙裔白人妇女。分类器将根据交付时获得的数据和预测 然后，将在中期妊娠妇女中测试这些分类器的能力。MIEHR的活动将是 由社区参与和传播核心提供信息，这将促进环境健康 识字率和可持续倡议的能力，以建立社区复原力。一个调查员的发展 CORE将支持创新的试点研究，以促进有才华的调查员的职业发展 提高未来环境健康差距研究的能力。这个 行政核心将为MIEHR调查人员、机构提供组织和整合支持 和积极参与的社区。MIEHR研究中心将在研究、职业生涯等方面实现目标 与多学科和多样化的社区和学术团队进行开发和社区参与 专家、协同研究项目之间的跨学科合作、开发多样化的活动 促进公平的社区利益相关者互动的劳动力和社区参与。

Despite the knowledge that pregnancy affects the health trajectory of both mother and child across the lifecourse, significant racial disparities exist. African-American (AA) women are at greatest risk for preterm birth and for dying from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) than any other group in the U.S. To decipher what drives these disparities, we are proposing a new Environmental Health Disparities Maternal and Infant Environmental Health Riskscape (MIEHR) Research Center. The Goal of the MIEHR Research Center is to elucidate contributions of the biological, physical, social and built environments of the environmental riskscape to environmental health disparities in pregnant women and their infants. The Houston-based MIEHR leverages partnerships and strong institutional support from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Southern University, the fourth largest historically black university in the U.S. Notably, Houston offers a microcosm for research at the intersection of environmental exposures and health disparities, with its diverse multi-ethnic and multi-racial population and documented environmental injustices. The city has the largest petrochemical complex in the U.S., numerous hazardous waste sites, no zoning and is at risk for natural and industrial disasters. The MIEHR Research Center has two synergistic Research Projects that build on a unique ongoing, perinatal database and biospecimen repository: the BCM Peribank. Project 1: The Environmental Riskscape, Disasters and Obstetric Outcomes will utilize an epidemiologic approach to identify differences in race-specific associations between the mixture of individual chemicals (i.e. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals) and place-based stressors in the riskscape and preterm birth. This project will also examine the impact of Hurricane Harvey on racial disparities in these exposures. Project 2: Disparities Aware Classifiers for Maternal and Infant Health will use an “omics” approach to develop and validate disparity aware classifiers for preterm birth and HDP for AA and non-Hispanic White women. The classifiers will be built from data obtained at delivery and the predictive capability of these classifiers will then be tested in second trimester pregnant women. MIEHR activities will be informed by a Community Engagement and Dissemination Core, which will enhance environmental health literacy and capacity for sustainable initiatives that build community resilience. An Investigator Development Core will support innovative pilot research that will promote career development of talented investigators from health disparity populations and increase capacity for future environmental health disparities research. The Administrative Core will provide organizational and integration support for MIEHR investigators, institutions and engaged communities. The MIEHR Research Center will accomplish its goals in research, career development and community engagement with multidisciplinary and diverse teams of community and academic experts, interdisciplinary collaborations between synergistic research projects, activities that develop a diverse workforce and community engagement that fosters equitable community stakeholder interactions.